Amnesia has always been a soap opera story telling staple. However, it usually wipes out the character’s entire memory. They come back to town, or wake up from being unconscious, and they remember nothing. Nada. Zilch. Zero.

All My Children has had its share of amnesia victims. Remember the Tad/Ted saga? Or the Maria Santos Grey/Maureen Gorman interlude? Eventually, the characters remember everything and all goes back to being well and good – or at lease as well and good as it can be for any soap character.

Enter Ryan Lavery, played by Cameron Mathison. He gets shot in the head when he takes a bullet meant for another. At first, he seems to be recovering nicely. But all of a sudden, he loses his memory – but not of everything – of only the past four years.

He thinks he is still in love with Kendall. He doesn’t even remember the debacle that he put Greenlee through regarding their marriage, his not wanting children, his abandoning her by letting her think he was killed in a motorcycle accident. Most importantly, he has absolutely no recollection of his wife, Annie, and their family. Pour Annie is at wits end. She so loves her husband and the life they shared. She feels for their daughter who is caught in the middle. Will Ryan and Annie ever recapture the love they once shared?

“Ryan does start to remember Annie,” Cameron Mathison reveals to Soapdom. “He has flashes of romantic moments with Annie. However, the confusion comes in because the images come but not the feelings. He can see the romance, but doesn’t feel it. With Kendall and Greenlee he remembered the relationships and he was overwhelmed with the feelings, but with Annie, he doesn’t remember the love.”

Ouch. That’s gotta smart. Especially for Annie. Could this couple ever be saved, or are they doomed?

We asked Mathison what he’d like to see happen in Ryan’s life and his amnesia recovery. Interestingly, he seems to be leaning toward a rekindling of the relationship with Greenlee, played by Rebecca Budig. But he is the first to admit, it could go any which way.

“I think it’s an interesting situation. Obviously, the reason that things didn’t work out with Greenlee were due to the circumstances surrounding the baby. Now that Ryan’s memory is gone, and there is stuff going on between Greenlee and Aidan (by “stuff” Mathison is referring to the fact that when Greenlee was with Ryan, all she wanted was his baby. Now that she is with Aidan, she is deciding – out of the blue – that she no longer wants children. Aidan will be taken aback by this. He will think: ‘How come she wanted Ryan’s baby, but doesn’t want mine?’), it adds an element to the situation,” said Mathison.

The easy thing for Ryan and Greenlee to do would be to take comfort in each other, and maybe (“maybe” being the operative word) the story will be that they will fall in love with each other all over again. “Or the relationship could deteriorate,” said Mathison.

“I don’t even think the powers that be at All My Children know yet,” he continued. “If the fans and everyone want to see Ryan and Annie get back together, they may start writing in that direction. Or maybe Greenlee will take comfort in Ryan’s arms or in the arms of someone else.”

It all remains to be seen. “If I had my wish, I would like Ryan to make a strong choice one way or the other,” Mathison shared. “I’d like to see him take a stand -- one way or the other, but (this being a soap) you know how these things go. They take their time.”

One thing is certain. Mathison couldn’t be more delighted that Budig has returned to All My Children. “It’s fun to have Rebecca back on the show. She is a really good friend of mine and I really love having her back.”